Who Put Hate in My Sunday Paper?

By Omid Safi

Palestine Think Tank, Oct 19th, 2008

Something strange has been showing up inside the Sunday newspapers of
millions of Americans the past few weeks. The material being included alongside
comics, coupons, and advertisement for local stores is a controversial DVD
called “Obsession: Radical
Islam’s War Against the West." Some 28 million copies of this DVD have been
distributed for free so far in this fashion. In some ways the scale of this
campaign, and its ideological venom, are unprecedented: many newspapers state
that they had never previously distributed free DVDs as inserts, certainly
nothing with such a charged content. The copies were distributed not randomly
across the country, but in the “swing
states" (Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado,
etc.) that are seen as a toss-up in the November Presidential elections between
McCain and Obama. Obviously, someone is trying to influence the American
electorate by playing on fear-mongering and hate-mongering themes. But who? Who
is behind this massive, multi-million dollar campaign?

Answering that question proved harder than one might think, as the groups
behind this DVD have worked hard to hide their tracks. The connections, which
are partially concealed in the DVD and the distribution campaign, take one from
groups in Israel, to pro-Israel lobby organizations in the United States, to
Christian evangelical groups, and to Neoconservative think-tanks.

The “facts" presented by Obsession have already been refuted in several
detailed presentations. For example, see the work of Obsessionwithhate.com and
that of Sheila Musaji, as well as Altmuslim.com.
Therefore, I am not going to make a point by point refutation of the contents of
the DVD. My intention is to explore the networks that are behind the production
and distribution of this DVD, with their clear goal of influencing the 2008
Presidential elections towards John McCain.

***

All politics is local, as well as global. That is particularly the case here.
The distribution of the DVD affected me and my family at an intimate local
level: up to 160,000 copies of this propaganda piece were distributed through
our local community in North Carolina. The newspaper of the nearby city of
Charlotte, distributed another 200,000 copies.

Really? Is this where we are? That a DVD which includes 77 minutes of
propaganda footage slicing together videos of violent Muslims with those of
Nazis, suggesting that Muslims are out to destroy Western civilization, is
comparable to cereal and toothpaste? Puhleeze…

The claims of the DVD, which claims to be an educational product and part of
a non-profit production, are as follows:

*That the attacks in Iraq, Palestine, Chechnya, and Iran present a global
Muslim conspiracy against Israel and “The West."

*A distinctive feature of the DVD is in fact the linking together of threat
of radical Islam with passionate defense of Israel. Most of the figures who are
paraded in the DVD, whether they are Jewish, Christian, or Muslim, are all
passionate pro-Israel speakers who have a long legacy of speaking against
Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims in general. The list includes such luminaries
as:

• Nonie Darwish, with the tell-all website: http://www.arabsforisrael.com/ “Arabs for Israel" Darwish
also neglects to mention that she is another ex-Muslim turned both Christian and
ardent supporter of Israel. In a world when virtually all Arabs and most Muslims
view the Palestinian/Israeli tragedy as the burning political and moral issue of
our time, how many Arabs in the world can be claimed as being passionate
supporters of Israel?

• Daniel Pipes. If the Pro-Israel/Neo-conservative unholy alliance had a
poster-child, Pipes would be it. Pipes is the most noted Islamophobe operating
in the US. Pipes is also the Director of a Pro-Israel entity called “The Middle East
Forum." As for his one-sided commitment to Israel credentials, suffice it to
say that he is the 2006 recipient of the “Guardian of Zion" award.

One could go on and on, but the above should give some indication that
contrary to what the Clarion Fund claims on its website, the “experts" paraded
on TV are not impartial and objective. They have a definite point of view, a
passionate defense of Israel at all cost, even if that cost happens to be truth
and facts.

Who Made this DVD?

Let’s come back to the claim of the local newspaper, that the distribution of
this product is qualitatively no different than putting a free sample of
toothpaste in the Sunday paper. For the sake of argument, let us take that
analogy and go with it. How many of us would receive an unmarked package of
toothpaste, and brush our teeth with it if it carries no label, no description
of who has made it, and no account of whether any agency has vouched for its
safety? If we do not take unmarked material to our teeth, why would we take a
product like Obsession which refuses to disclose the network behind it into our
hearts, into our schools, synagogues, mosques, churches, and civic
institutions?

So does this Obsession DVD fall within the purview of Aish HaTorah’s
“outreach" Given the intertwined nature of the political and the religious in
Israel, it seems that Aish HaTorah has gone from evangelizing to Jews to waging
a global propaganda campaign against Islam and Muslims, while also working hard
to cover its tracks, as we shall see.

Raphael Shore is also the director of Hasbara Fellowships, a group with the
transparent website: http://www.israelactivism.com/ Here there is another
connection to Aish HaTorah, as Hasbara is part of the Aish HaTorah network. And
their activism on behalf of Israel is worn like a badge of honor.

The pattern is beginning to become clearer: how is it that a group with the
stated goal of “Israel activism" is placing 28 million copies of a DVD warning
Americans about the danger of “radical Islam" In many of the screenings of this
DVD, the audience was required to sign up for receiving material from the
israelactivism.com website. How come 70 US newspapers accepted this DVD without
doing the basic research to uncover the source (and prejudice) of this
propaganda?

Shore, recognizing that the credibility of his propaganda would be undermined
if its correction to Israeli-spin organizations were revealed, told Haaretz (in
an unusually frank slip) that they “have told
Honest Reporting to take it off their site ‘a dozen times.’" The connections
between Obsession and Israeli groups like Aish HaTorah and Jewish advocacy
groups on behalf of Israel like Hasbara Fellowship and Honestyreporting.com is
beyond dispute. The producers of the documentary just don’t want you to know
about it.

The spokesperson for the Clarion Fund, Gregory Ross, did not deny that this
article had appeared on their site, he was only upset that they had been caught
with it! The Clarion Fund has been established as a 501(c)3 non-profit
organization. These types of non-profit organizations are not to endorse one
political candidate over another, precisely what Clarion seems to have done, and
is now busy hiding its track records. NPR reported on this, and the possibility of a forthcoming FEC
probe.

Who is paying for the “Obsession Project"?

We do not know for sure, and the Clarion Fund people are not saying. They
admit that the names they give for the funders on their material are bogus
aliases. Shore states that 80% of the funding for the Obsession DVD has come
from one source, a “Peter Mier". Yet he goes on
to say that these are just aliases! In other words, it is hard to know for
sure who is paying for the production and even more importantly the distribution
of what the Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET), the main distributor for
Obsession, refers to as the “Obsession Project."

NPR has reported that an organization called Endowment for Middle East
Truth (EMET), is also responsible for distribution of the Obsession DVD.
Like Honestreporting.com, the “Middle East Truth" being bandied about here is
yet another self-described Zionist/pro-Israel understanding of the reality whose
policies are in line with Likud militant expansionism, with the stated mission
of support for Israel, and opposing any “concessions" from Israel as part of a
peace agreement with Palestinians, even the withdrawal from the occupied
territory of Gaza. The positions of EMET are the positions of Likud party in
Israel, and that of the illegal Settler movement. It was EMET that on March
25th, 2008 sponsored a showing of Obsession on Capitol Hill.

Leading the work of this Endowment has been Sarah
Stern, who formerly worked as the National Policy Coordinator for the Zionist Organization of America and
later on served as the Director of the Office of Legislative and Governmental
Affairs of the AJC (American Jewish Congress).

In short, the distributors of the Obsession DVD are the most ardent and
fanatical supporters of Israeli Likud militant expansionism, a fact that the
Obsession DVD conveniently omits, and the newspapers who spread the 28 million
copies of this DVD like a virus never looked into. EMET also has a cozy
relationship with the right-wing Jewish billionaire Sheldon G. Adelson, who has
a proven track record of using his wealth to push both Israeli Likud-type and
Republican agendas. Adelson has a long-standing and public relationship with the
arch-Likud Netanyahu that Haaretz has reported on previously. A recent investigative piece in the New Yorker proved many details of
Adelson’s political agenda in both the United States and Israel. Adelson, who
owns many casinos in Las Vegas, has been a longtime contributor to the Zionist
Organization of America, Sarah Stern’s former employer. Now that Stern is at
EMET, she has sponsored lecture series and seminars on Capital Hill in name of
Adelson, to extend his influence into the Congress.

Who else serves on the board of EMET (Endowment for Middle East), the
Pro-Israeli lobby group? A who’s who of Israeli officials and ultra-Zionists in
the United States:

• Ambassador Yossi Ben-Aharon: Formerly, the Chief of Staff for
Ytzak Shamir, and Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs.

• Ambassador Yoram
Ettinger. “Minister for Congressional Affairs at Israel's Embassy in
Washington (with a rank of an ambassador), Israel's Consul General in Houston
and Director of Israel's Government Press Office."

• Lenny Ben-David: “Israel's Deputy Chief of Mission (number two
diplomat) in Washington after being appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu", who in addition has “held senior posts in the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee for 25 years, in both Washington and Israel."

In addition to Israeli officials, the EMET Board also includes:•
Neo-Conservatives such as R. James
Woolsey, Frank Gaffney (another Neo-Con who has received awards from
the Zionist Organization of America), Ariel
Cohen (from the Neo-Conservative bastion Heritage), David
Dalin (from the Neo-Con Hoover Institute and also Heritage).

• Ardent pro-Israel lobbyists such as: Daniel
Pipes, Caroline Glick (deputy managing editor of Jerusalem Post), Meyrav
Wurmser (the former director of the highly
biased MEMRI, a propaganda organization founded by members of the Israeli
Defense Force), Also serving on the Board of EMET are many of the “talking
heads" would-be experts of Obsession, such as Walid
Shoebat.

• Christian Zionists: EMET also reaches out to Christians—or one should
specify, Christian Zionists—by featuring Rev.
James. M. Hutchens, who founded an organization called The Jerusalem
Connection International.

The lines of connection between the makers of the allegedly impartial and
non-profit Obsession and politically partial Republican groups and pro-Israeli
expansionist Jewish organizations continues to grow…

The Republican Jewish Coalition is yet another group that the Clarion Fund
and the Endowment for Middle Eastern Truth has worked which has taken a partial
political position for the forthcoming election. On their website, the
Republican Jewish Coalition states that Barack Obama and Joe Biden and their
supporters “have handed Ahmadenijad [sic] a big win."

***

Islam or Radical Islam?

Perhaps a word should be added here about the distinction between Islam and
Radical Islam. In the last few years, we have indeed seen a number of terrorist
acts around the world which have resulted in the death of thousands. While the
bulk of these have not emanated from Islamic organizations, many have. (Of
course the majority of the victims of acts of terrorism even in these latter
cases have been other Muslims.) No doubt, a critical look at the ideology of
terrorist groups is more than called for in today’s political climate. What many
would object to, however, is painting all Muslims and all of Islam with the same
brush.

The Obsession DVD opens by making a sharp distinction between Islam and
Radical Islam. The producers of the documentary state, adamantly, that they are
not anti-islam or anti-Muslim, but that they are only against “Radical Islam."
Leaving aside for a moment the debates over what constitutes “radical Islam",
and how pervasive it actually is, there is an uncomfortable disconnect between
this claim on their website and the claims made inside the DVD: the people
paraded as would-be experts do not in fact share this neat dichotomy between
Islam and “Radical Islam." The many speakers paraded here have a documented
history of making blanket statements against Islam—all of Islam—and all of
Muslims.

Let’s take one example, the very first speaker shown on camera: Walid
Shoebat.

Shoebat’s claim to fame is that he claims to be an ex-“Islamic terrorist",
turned Christian and lover of Zion. If he claims to have produced bombs to kill
citizens, why is he not in prison? Muslims are routinely jailed for much less
and indirect accusations. Nevertheless, let us examine Shoebat’s track record
regarding some of his more audacious claims about Islam (not just “radical
Islam"):

• “The Arabic speaking communities in America, however, do indeed
support Osama bin Ladin and Hamas." [For some reason, Afghans and Iranians
do not, he states.] Shoebat goes on to say: “The less they know about Islam the
more peaceful they are." In other words, the Islamophobic assertions that
peaceful Muslims are not peaceful because of Islam, but in spite of Islam; where
as “radical Muslims" are precisely radical and violent because of Islam.
Something about that logic seems flawed, since it deprives human beings of the
agency to actually interpret their own tradition in both beautiful and hideous
ways.

• He has been even more forceful in asserting that Islam is evil. His exact
words: "Islam is not the religion of God — Islam is the devil." Let us
be explicit here: The Obsession DVD claims that it is not targeting Islam, it is
targeting “Radical Islam." The first person featured in the DVD sings a
different tune, literally demonizing all of Islam.

For one other example, we could look at another of the talking heads in the
documentary, the Lebanese Christian Brigitte
Gabriel, who appeared before the Christians United For Israel conference on
July 27th 2007 (sponsored by Pastor Hagee) and opined:

The difference, my dear Christian friends, between Israel and the Arab
world is quite simply the difference between civilization and barbarism. It’s
the difference between good and evil and this is what we’re witnessing in the
Arabic and Islamic world. I am angry. They have no SOUL! They are dead set on
killing and destruction. And in the name of something they call “Allah," which
is very different from the God we believe in, because our God is the God of
love.

No fair-minded person would take Gabriel’s hateful words as authoritative
teachings of the Christian tradition, or as exemplifying Christian love. And yet
the producers of Obsession want the viewers to take Gabriel as an authoritative
expert on Islam and Muslims. Somehow when Gabriel describes the whole “Islamic
world" as having “no soul", I suspect that we are no longer in the realm of “we
are not talking about Islam, we are talking about Islamic radicals" position
that the producers of Obsession hide behind. No wonder that the NY Times described her as a “radical Islamophobe."

Christ reminded us that by their fruits (and words) you shall know them. And
the words of these hate-filled so-called experts speak for themselves.

Conclusion

The massive scale of the Obsession campaign raises a number of disturbing
questions: it does point to the ease with which foreign groups from Israel have
established non-profit organizations in the United States to sway US elections
by working with fringe from the pro-Israel lobby, Republican, and Evangelical
community. While their ideology is marginal, their wealth and influence is
anything but marginal. Non-profit organizations seeking to exert a political
influence is not illegal, but non-profits seeking to endorse political
candidates and swaying elections is, and this is precisely what the network
behind the Obsession DVD seeks to do.

The “Obsession Project" also does point to the eroding standards of
journalism. Why has mainstream American journalism been so slow to pick up on
these networks, all of which are publicly available, with some
investigation?

The Obsession Project also points to the ever-increasingly poisonous
political climate in our country, where demonizing an entire ethnic or religious
community seems to be becoming more and more commonplace. We have seen
African-Americans, Hispanic, Muslims, Gays and Lesbians, and others
characterized in such a fashion. Perhaps no community in the West has been the
victims of millennia-long persecution and “Other-ing" campaigns as has the
Jewish community. That makes it all the more devastating, and disappointing,
that centrally-situated and powerful Jewish organizations from both Israel and
the United States are now deploying the same Other-ing strategies against other
minority groups, with hardly a voice of dissent being heard from other Jewish
organizations. Indeed, Obsession is already tearing down bridges of dialogue
between Muslim and Jewish groups across the country that had taken years to
establish.

It is readily admitted that Israel remains both a rallying cry and a source
of tension for many American Jewish organizations and American Jews. There are
important fissures in the American Jewish community over all issues, including
that of Israel. No one group speaks for all American Jews, who have often had an
exemplary legacy of peace and justice activism. Indeed, one can point to many
American Jews who have taken the lead in criticism of Israeli human rights
violations against Palestinians. One important question that has yet to be
answered is whether propaganda like Obsession will be met with silence by the
Jewish community, or if it will be spoken against by all (Muslims, Jews,
Christians, etc.) who are committed to peace and social justice.

Lastly, we do note from historical experience that campaigns like this tend
to increasingly lower the bar of what is acceptable speech as opposed to “hate
speech." Make no mistake about it: there will be follow up projects. The Clarion
Fund has already declared that its next project is a documentary titled The
Third Jihad. The synopsis is as follows: “How is radical Islam
operating inside the West? Is a subversive ‘cultural jihad’ underway? How does
radical Islam plan to bring America to its knees? What is the endgame?" This
documentary is set for an October 2008 release date. In other words, if
Obsession was about the danger of Radical Islam “over there", Third Jihad will
make the case that this same threat exists “over here." One shudders at the
thought of the hate these pieces of propaganda are producing against members of
the American Muslim community.

We can either keep going down this slippery slope of accusations and blanket
generalizations, or we can bond together and rise up to say Enough! The point is
not only that Muslims are being targeted, it is the very poisoning of our
cultural discourse, and our hopes for a pluralistic American society that can
welcome and embrace pluralism. To quote Martin Luther King, “Returning hate for
hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of
stars." What we need now is less of the hateful heat of Obsession (and its
networks), and more light from all of us who are committed to a just and
pluralistic future for all of us.

Towards that day, starting today….

Omid SafiProfessor of Religious StudiesUniversity of North
Carolina

Chair for the Study of Islam SectionAmerican Academy of Religion*

Contact:
[email protected]*The opinions here are the personal opinions of the author, and do not
reflect University of North Carolina or the American Academy of Religion.

"When a Jew, in America or in South Africa, talks to
his Jewish companions about 'our' government, he means the
government of Israel."